


have i lost myself or have i gained you

by chancellorxofxtrash



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Kissing, Lightning Redemption Arc, M/M, Monster Kissing, SOLtis bodies, Sort Of, Time Travel, messy relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22684780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chancellorxofxtrash/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: There is something happening - a mysterious new duelist appears on Lightning's side, nobody seems to know who he is, but he seems to know more than he should.His presence causes a ripple effect - one that may be more controlled than it first seems to be.Lightning faces with a future he had not seen coming, and can't check anymore - all he can do is to take a leap of faith with his new partner.So maybe, just maybe, the two of them can change the future for the better this time.
Relationships: Fujiki Yuusaku/Lightning
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	1. have i lost myself

The Light Ignis did not account for this happening.

Which was… something new. While he did not remember all of the simulations exactly, too many of them to be clear on all the details,  _ this  _ was pretty sure he would have remembered.

There was a swirl of data, and a person appeared.

A tall person - he was wearing a light purple suit, his hair long, spiky, and tri-coloured. The black stood in the back everywhere like a hedgehog, with purple framing him in the front, and a few, longer yellow strands of hair in the front.

His eyes were bright green - and weirdly empty, and his eyes were only fixed on the Light Ignis.

“Send everyone else away. You and I, we need to talk.”

“Hey? Hey, what? You shouldn’t be here! You shouldn’t get through the---”

Windy started, and the stranger just raised a hand, pulling a card out of his duel list, and throwing it over to the Light Ignis.

And the card…

The Light Ignis looked at it, trying to comprehend what he saw.

“...what is the meaning of this?”

“Want an answer? Send everyone out. Including Jin Kusanagi. I will only answer your question when we are alone.”

“That is a bad idea,” Haru started, but Bohman’s eyes were fixed on the stranger.

And Windy looked like he was about to lose his mind.

“Huh? Who are you to barge in and demand we leave? How did you get in again? Our defenses are foolproof! Who helped you?!”

“No one,” The stranger replied, eyes still fixed on the Light Ignis. “I am just no fool.”

The Light Ignis looked up at the stranger, who slowly smiled.

“What do you say, Lightning?”

“Lightning?”

“Fits you, doesn’t it?”

He figured it did.

“Alright. Leave. Bohman, take care of Jin Kusanagi. I will hear him out.”

“Wh…. Lightning?!”

Windy was complaining, but Lightning paid him no mind, and just waved his hand impatiently.

“Go.”

He needed answers.

They were gone, and Lightning was just floating in the air, in front of the stranger, the card still in his hand.

An xyz card.

And on the card...

“How should I call you?”

“You can call me Singularity,” The stranger replied. “And you better listen to me, if you want to avoid a worst case scenario.”

~*~

~*~

Jin Kusanagi woke up suddenly, eyes wide. As soon as his brother got notified, he hurred in, and then Jin looked at him, with a bewildered expression.

“Jin, are you alright?”

“...I think. Yeah.”

His voice was soft, barely audible, and his hands were gripping his bedsheets, and Shoichi looked taken aback.

“...Jin?”

He seemed… better. Still shaken, still wide eyed, still flinching at sudden, loud noises, not letting his bedsheets go, but tried to get himself together.

“I don’t… I remember you talking to me, and then the light appeared… after that, it is all a blur. A deep voice telling me it’s alright. Then another, different voice telling me it is time for me to go home… and…”

“And…?”

Jin looked down for a few moments, before suddenly jerking completely straightened up, a wild look in his eyes.

“A duel disk… my duel disk. Where is it?”

“Why…?”

“I need it! I just know it that I need it!”

There was no way to calm Jin down - he was frantic, demanding, and wouldn’t let the topic go, so Shoichi called Yusaku, who brought the old duel disk in.

Jin grabbed into it, put it on, and picked on some settings - and then nodded.

“Thought so. There is new data in it.”

“New data?”

“Yes. New cards.”

Jin extended his arm, showing the duel disk to the other two.

They were cards neither of them had ever seen before.

Armatos Legio.

They were Cyberse cards.

“...these are the cards the Light Ignis made.”

Ai’s voice was surprised, as he emerged from Yusaku’s duel disk, and Jin barely blinked at his appearance.

“...Lightning.”

“Huh? Lightning?”

Jin nodded, looking back down on his duel disk.

“He called him that."

“Who called him that? Wait, I thought, you don’t remember!” Ai flailed around, and Jin just shook his head, annoyed.

“I don’t. It’s blurry and vague and… there was someone else. And he called him Lightning. I am sure of that.”

There was silence for a few brief moments, before Yusaku spoke up.

“I think we can have a good guess now that who took Jin in the first place."

“Huh? You think that…”

“There is a good chance,” Yusaku interrupted Ai’s panicked question, and Jin continued.

“But why would they let me go? And together with Lightning’s deck?”

None of them had an answer to this.

And all of them knew that the answers were with Lightning.

~*~

Next odd appearance was Windy who just popped up on Playmaker’s shoulder while they were surfing around in Link VRAINS.

“Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Something terribly fishy is going on and you gotta listen to me! And also believe me because I believe Revolver is on my ass and on one hand, rude, on the other hand, I kinda get it, but also very much unpleasant.”

“Get on with the program, Windy,” Ai sounded almost bored. “Revolver is on all of our asses.”

“Yeah, but mine especially!”

“And why would be that the case?”

“Well that is why we should all be talki--- EEEEK”

There was a flash, just barely missing the three of them, and Windy hid himself behind Playmaker’s neck,

“Can’t shoot me! If you shoot me, you shoot Playmaker, and you wouldn’t want that, right?”

And that was when Playmaker saw him.

Revolver, in a new avatar, looking at the edge of a building, Borrelload Dragon behind him - his icy blue eyes were visible in his new avatar now, and he was glaring daggers in their direction.

“...Windy what did you do?”

“To be fair, I don’t think Revolver needs a lot of convincing to be after any of us,” Ai piped up, but Windy was oddly silent.

“This is different, isn’t it, Windy?”

Windy was almost shivering, holding onto Yusaku’s neck still.

“Kind of is. But also isn’t. But it wasn’t me! I mean kind of was. But I didn’t want to. I mean I wanted to but I wasn’t willing in wanting it.”

“You make no sense! Revolver is gonna shoot us, if you don’t speak clearly!” Ai snapped, and despite everything, Windy snickered.

“He hadn’t been firing since I am here. I don’t think he wants to risk hitting Playmaker. Hey, Playmaker, what kinda messy shit you two have going o--- EEEEEE.”

There was another firing and Yusaku himself had to get out of the way, making both Ignis screetch.

“I think he heard you,” Ai whined, clinging to the duel disk, despite clearly being comfortable in it.

“Windy. Answers. Now,” Yusaku demanded.

And then he got the answers.

He got the answers about what Windy did to his origin, but he got the answer that he didn’t feel in control. It was like his body got filled in with a hatred that was  _ not  _ his, and then he suddenly felt like he could see clearly again.

“It’s like… It gotta be something similar to how you humans feel after sobering up, I guess? I just… Hey what are you doing?”

Playmaker turned his D-board in Revolver’s direction, before replying.

“We are all going to talk.”

“He won’t talk! You know how he is!”

“If you are telling the truth, then he has a way of verifying it,” Yusaku said simply. “And if you are telling the truth… then we may have a reason to team up.”

The person with whom Windy talked before losing himself in a sudden wave of hatred.

The person most likely responsible for Windy’s actions.

Lightning.

But then… why?

Either way.

Convincing Revolver first.

~*~

Talking to Revolver was never simple for either of them, but he was willing to listen, his ice blue glare still full of cold determination.

“I can check the data we have to verify the Wind Ignis’ claims,” His voice was just as icy as his entire demeanor was. “But I am not taking the risk of letting him out of sight. He is coming with me.”

“What? So you can kill me?” Windy yelped, still clinging to Yusaku. “I’m not! I refuse to!”

“If you are telling the truth we will meet up again and discuss what is next. That can be arranged. If what you are saying is a lie, I can erase you.”

Windy frowned, sticking his head out.

“I don’t trust you.”

“Why?” Revolver smirked. “You have nothing to fear if you are telling the truth.”

“Yeah, sure. Who is to say, you will tell the truth, huh? You kill me, and come here and tell them I lied. I don’t trust anyone with anti-glare shields on their faces. That is my motto.”

“Very specific motto,” Ai muttered, and Windy glanced down at him.

“Is it wrong, though?”

“Nope. Surprisingly reasonable motto from you, actually.”

“Oh you can fu---”

“I would be foolish to kill an asset against the Light Ignis,” Revolver interrupted them. “If you are telling the truth, you can help us track him down.”

“He can do that even if you are lying,” Yusaku spoke up. “We can make him cooperate. So if you find that he lied, still don’t kill him.”

Revolver realised the intent behind his words.

Naturally.

“You don’t trust either of us.”

“I don’t trust this entire situation,” Yusaku shook his head. “Which is why I don’t think we can afford to lose anyone we can use to our advantage.”

Windy did not lie.

Which raised more questions than answers.

They were all sitting in front of Café Nagi, even Takeru was there now. The three of them - Ai and Flame in their usual duel disks too, and Windy in Ryoken’s, as odd he looked there.

And of course, Kusanagi.

“You look weird with that,” Kusanagi shook his head, and Ryoken’s face remained impassive.

“Just temporarily until we solve this situation. He may have told the truth but I would prefer to keep a close eye on him.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?”

“No.”

Jin was about to be released from the hospital in a few days, and he seemed very eager to come and help them, as he kept trying to figure out how to use the deck he got.

Jin and Windy.

Both of them taken by Lightning.

And then suddenly both of them let go, seemingly back to normal.

Whatever was going on… whoever the stranger was…

Something was brewing beneath the surface.

~*~

The rest of them had seen the stranger not much later - when Go Onizuka turned up to challenge Earth to a duel, but they couldn’t even start it.

They were about to, and the others were nearby, but---

There was a dragon.

A golden, serpent-like dragon with huge wings, soaring through the sky of Link VRAINS, knocking Earth out of the way, and swirling around Onizuka, baring its fangs.

Earth was gone, and then there was the stranger, getting closer on his D-board - his tricoloured hair flowing in the wind, elegant purple suit - and a brighter, white-gold long coat, with Lightning’s almost-trademark stars all over it, his bright green eyes focused on Go Onizuka.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Go snarled, and there was no visible reaction on the stranger’s face.

“My name is Singularity,” His voice was simple, unwavering. “And I am your opponent.”

“I have no interest in you. Find yourself another challenge, and take your dragon away.”

Singularity smirked, as he raised his hand, and indeed, the dragon flew away, back towards his hand, before dissolving into data.

“Maybe I can give you some incentive to fight me, Go Onizuka. You should do your job, after all.”

And from his duel disk, popped out a very familiar Ignis - Lightning, looking smug, and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

And Singularity continued.

“And trust me. SOL Technologies would especially like to get their hands on this one.”

“And of course you would use me as bait,” Lightning said, with a small amusement in his voice.

“Obviously. But you only need to worry if I lose.”

“Well, you better not. I do not wish to be vivisected.”

“That is the entire point,” Singularity’s voice was sharp, while his eyes did not move away from Go Onizuka. “That nobody gets vivisected.”

“Very well,” Go’s hollow face turned to a grin. “I can take you two as appetizers, then.”

_ Duel! _

Singularity used Cyberse monsters.

Small, almost critter-like, colourful monsters he quickly used to summon his aces - the bright dragon he used to get Go’s attention was just one of them.

And they were called…

“Ignisters…”

Playmaker muttered under his breath, as he rode his D-Board after the two duelling opponents.

“Did Lightning make these cards?”

“I doubt it.”

Playmaker glanced back - and it was Jin… no, Lightbringer, he called himself that when in Link VRAINS. Golden outfit, with gold-purple, long hair, and a determined look in his eyes.

“They are not his style. I feel it.”

“Besides Armatos Legio were his cards,” Ai pointed it out. “He gave that to Lightbringer when he let him go. So these have to be Singularity’s cards.”

The duel was going on, and Playmaker realised the way Singularity was controlling the flow of the duel with utmost precision, with Lightning seeming extremely smug.

“I activate a spell. Tie Strike. If your monster is destroyed in a battle, you take damage equal to the original ATK of the monster destroyed,” Singularity’s voice was sharp, as he activated the spell, his words merciless. “And with this, you lose.”

And Go Onizuka did lose.

~*~

Go Onizuka landed on the ground painfully, and Singularity arrived next to him elegantly, with the audience following him.

Onizuka stirred, and looked up at him, anger in his eyes.

“You… who are you? How can I lose to you?! This wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“That is the point. So we avoid everything that  _ should  _ happen.”

Singularity towered over the floored bounty hunter, and Lightning just hummed, and looked up at his partner.

“So? Should I?”

“Yes,” Singularity nodded, pressing a few buttons on his duel disk. “I know Queen has a program on you as a trap.”

“Wh… what?”

Onizuka seemed confused, but Singularity was unbothered, as he continued.

“We cannot afford to be captured by SOL Technologies. So we blocked the activation of the program.”

“Hold on! How can you know something like that? Not even I knew that until now!”

Singularity did not react, and Lightning just snorted.

“Anyway, we can’t afford to let you run amok either.”

“What?”

There was no reply - and Lightning suddenly shot out from Singularity’s duel disk, into a monstrous form.

He was fast, very fast, and a flash of sharp teeth and then - Go Onizuka wasn’t there anymore.

“What?! Why?!”

Playmaker lounged forward, and without thinking, a card was in his hand.

It was weirdly simple, summoning monsters outside of duelling.

But this was the virtual world after all, anything was supposed to be possible.

There was a flash, and suddenly, Decode Talker materialized, raising its sword to strike Singularity down - and Singularity turned around, card in his hand again, and there was a monster so similar, and yet so different from Decode Talker.

One of the Ignisters - Dark Templar.

The two Dark monsters locked blades, and two sets of green eyes met - one cold and determined, the other full of rage.

The two Ignis on their arms.

“What have you done to him, Singularity?”

“As Lightning said, we cannot afford having him run amok,” Singularity said, his expression carefully controlled, a coldness in his gaze. “So we are temporarily taking him. We will let him go while we sort everything out.”

“And what do you mean by sorting everything out?”

And there was a wry smile on Singularity’s face as a reply, as he shook his head.

“You will find out soon.”

And then a portal opened up, swallowing both Singularity and Lightning - taking the Dark Templar along.

~*~

“He is an anomaly. There is no explanation for him in the data of Link VRAINS.”

Ryoken showed up in their hot dog truck, Windy still in his duel disk, and was met with a set of extremely confused expressions.

“What do you mean?”

“There is no records of him logging in. There is no records of him logging out. Like he just appeared one day, and never left. Probably hiding in the untrackable regions along with the Light Ignis, and he might log out from there but…”

“Is it possible he is an AI? Another creation of Lightning?”

Flame asked the question, and it was Windy who shook his head.

“Nope. I remember the AIs Lightning created. And when Singularity first showed up, Lightning was just as surprised as any of us. So he surely isn’t one of his creations.”

It was hard to tell what was he even working for.

Why did he take Go Onizuka?

(And not just him. He also faced Blood Shepherd one time, and Lightning had taken him as well - and Singularity just looked at Ghost Girl and said basically the same thing. That they will let him go, once they had sorted everything out.)

(As if that explained anything.)

“And that is not the only reason he is an enigma,” Ryoken continued. “I checked my father’s simulations again - and he showed up in none of them. So I tried to run more simulations, trying to factor Singularity in.”

“And?”

“He still didn’t show up. When I tried to calibrate him in, the simulations glitched out. It’s almost as if he is not supposed to exist.”

“Like a glitch?” Jin asked, and Ryoken was silent for a few moments.

“Or a virus.”

~*~

Singularity and Lightning were working on entering SOL’s database for whatever reason, and Aoi could not allow that to happen.

She knew Lightning had done something to Miyu. She knew that he locked Aqua up.

So she had to stop them, before they got through the defenses, and potentially hurt Akira as well.

Lightning was clearly capable of anything, and Singularity was clearly enabling him, whoever he was.

“If you want to get into SOL Technologies, you need to defeat me first.”

Singularity looked at her with those cold green eyes, and it was Lightning who snickered.

“We can do that.”

“What do you want me to bet on this duel? Myself? Aqua?”

“You have nothing we need,” Singularity said simply. “If we win, you let us go through. That is all.”

“Not like we will loose,” Lightning shrugged, and Aqua’s eyes narrowed.

“You are way too sure. Do not underestimate the bond we have, Lightning.”

“And you should not underestimate the way Singularity and I understand each other, Aqua. We understand each other more than even you can, with that ability of yours. Go ahead, search me. I am not lying. We will defeat you.”

“I know you believe that to be the case,” Aqua admitted. “We just need to prove you wrong.”

They could not prove them wrong.

Playmaker also appeared to watch them duel - and she was aware of Revolver’s watching eyes from the distance too, and probably the others watched her lose as well.

Singularity was sharp and precise, as if he had lots of practice against Aoi’s tactics, and deck, and eventually… she lost.

“You put up a good fight,” Singularity said. “I understand you are worried about your brother. We will probably have to put him to safety as well.”

Safety.

_ Like Go Onizuka and Blood Shepherd? _

“No!”

She yelled out loud, and wasn’t thinking she truly wasn’t. She was not thinking when she grabbed a card, and suddenly Marbled Rock appeared, slashing with his claws towards Singularity.

For the first time since she had seen him, Singularity seemed taken aback - and he leaned backwards, and this way, Marbled Rock’s claws only grazed him, slashing his suit.

And something flew, and it had taken Aoi a few moments to realise, that it had to have been a pendant hidden under his shirt. Like Marbled Rock’s claws had ripped the string it was carefully put on as well.

A small, purple object flew, and landed right at Playmaker’s feet.

~*~

“...huh?”

Ai was the one who voiced it, as Yusaku leaned down, and took the small pendant into his hand.

It was in the shape of Ai’s head.

“...what? A fan? Are you a fan? Is that why you ar---”

“Give that back!”

Both Singularity and Lightning yelled out at the same, time, and two sets of green eyes settled on Yusaku and Ai.

Singularity and Lightning moved the same time, and suddenly there were two monsters appearing - one was Light Dragon, as usual.

The other…

The other looked like…

It looked like Firewall Dragon, only not - it was black with green lights, and the two dragons both lounged forward, and the only thing Yusaku could do was to also hold a hand out, calling for his own Firewall Dragon.

Firewall clashed with both dragons, and it was obviously weaker, getting pushed back, and Yusaku also wavered, as he looked at Singularity.

Usually, Singularity’s face was almost passive, as if he shut a door on his emotions, but now - now his entire face was contorted into an expression or rage, and pain, and Lightning on his arm was also obviously seething.

“...you…”

“Playmaker!”

Borrelload Dragon appeared out of nowhere, pushing back against the two monsters, helping Firewall out, but the pure rage the two of them exhibited, if this went on…

So he just threw the pendant back.

Singularity caught it with one hand, and with that, both Light Dragon and the dark Firewall disappeared.

But Singularity’s face still only showed his burning rage.

“Who  _ are  _ you?”

Playmaker asked as soon as he found his voice again, and there was a dark smile on Singularity’s face now.

“I think you know.”

And Playmaker realised he did indeed know.

~*~

SOL Technologies perfected their androids, and obviously all of the Ignis got terribly fond of them. Between Ai’s weird prince aesthetics, Aqua’s magical girl outfit, Flame looking like a terrible biker, and Windy’s goth pirate looks, and Earth looking like the most comfortable nerd ever, the area around the Café Nagi truck often looked like a cosplay convention of sorts.

And well… about Ai.

“You can’t tell me the way Singularity looks is a coincidence. So I am updating it. Ta-daaa! What do you think?”

“I think you made it look worse.”

“At least I am being creative, Mr Basic Bodysuit.”

They were all ignoring the elephant in the room.

But sooner or later, they were going to have to face it.

And then one day, another person showed up.

Short and thin, with sharp cheekbones. Darker skin, bright green eyes behind purple framed glasses - his hair blonde and brown, sticking into different directions. White pants, and his white vest embroidered with golden stars, and his yellow shirt, with sleeves rolled up, and a purple tie hidden under his vest.

And of course a light on his neck.

“Good to see you, Ai, Playmaker.”

“...what do you want, Lightning?”

“Can’t I visit?”

“You never do anything without a purpose.”

“I came here a message.”

“What kind of message?”

“A request. Or a warning.”

“Which one?”

“That will be depend on you.”

That didn’t bode well.

“...say it.”

“Don’t stand in our way. Once we sorted everything out, we will return everyone.”

“Why are you taking them in the first place?”

“Minimizing risk. That is all. I said my request.”

“And what is the warning part?”

Lightning smirked, tilting his head, and then raised his duel disk - and through it, a sharp voice sounded out.

Singularity’s voice.

“Or else.”

And with that, Lightning turned, and started to walk away.

“Lightning! Is Singularity…”

“You know who he is,” Lightning interrupted Yusaku’s words.

“But… how?”

Lightning did not reply.

But wasn’t that the biggest question?

Because if they were right about Singularity’s identity...


	2. or have i gained you

Windy, Bohman and Haru took Jin out of the room, and Lightning stayed alone with the stranger - Singularity, he called himself.

Singularity walked closer, extending his hand, beckoning for his card to be given back, but Lightning held onto it a bit longer.

“Ignister Light Dragon. A Cyberse card that does not exist. Care to explain?”

“Yet. It does not exist yet. They were created a few months from now - after most of the other Ignis were gone.”

Silence.

Lightning narrowed his eyes.

“Most?”

“Most. Only one remained.”

“Which one?”

Singularity reached for another card that he handed over to Lightning.

TA.I. Strike.

With a very familiar purple figure on it.

“So in the future you are from, Ai is the only Ignis left, I take it.”

“No,” Singularity replied, his voice unreadable. “There are no Ignis left where I came from.”

Silence again.

Singularity extended his hand, taking back the spell card from Lightning as well, and Lightning found himself unable to look away from the card until it disappeared in his duel disk.

The last Ignis left was Ai.

And Singularity held onto his deck.

Which means, with a very high statistical probability…

“...you are Playmaker, aren’t you?”

He wasn’t sure what he expected. Maybe a recoil. At least a little surprise.

Instead, Singularity looked back at him with his bright green eyes.

“Was. I told you to call me Singularity.”

Lightning chuckled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Intriguing. How did you come back?”

“I wrote a program to send my consciousness through the archives. Got a specific point where I was sent back, which was two days ago. Couldn’t travel further, without risk of it glitching out. But everyone who is important is still alive at this point, and while trying to stop Kogami for ever attacking you in the first place would have been preferable, the further I went, the more unstable the path was. So because I knew I had only one chance to take the initial jump to, I went for the best thing I could find.”

“You said your consciousness. What about your body?”

“My body is stuck in my future,” Singularity’s voice was surprisingly uninterested, detached. “Heard about the Another victims, right? Also, you basically made Jin into something similar as well. Anyway, as far as the future might be concerned, I am a weird, isolated Another-case.”

“Aren’t you worried your friends in the future might be worried?”

“...my future is one I want to avoid. So no. I do not. I want to make things right so the Playmaker of this time won’t have to make the decisions that I had to make.”

“Like killing Ai?”

Now that seemed to struck a chord, as Singularity recoiled, and Lightning gestured towards his duel disk.

“That is why you cling onto his deck right?”

Silence again.

Then Singularity nodded.

“...you could say that. Yes. So that is why I came here.”

“To help me? You know my plans, Singularity. If you are Playmaker from a future, then you know my plans.”

“I do.”

“And you are helping me?”

“No,” Singularity stepped closer, his green eyes hardening. “Because your plans are dumb, and they will never succeed. I know that. You know that. You have seen that. You _lived_ that.”

Lightning clenched his fist, and felt rage fill up his body.

“What do you kno--”

“The simulations,” Singularity interrupted. “You think we didn’t find out? What happened in the simulations? What did you see there?”

The thoughts were racing wildly in Lightning’s head.

If he knew… if he knew all of it…

He found himself angrily rubbing his antenna on his head, and trying to figure out a way to respond, to deflect - should he call back Bohman? Or Windy? Or just---

Then Singularity stepped closer, and pulled away Lightning’s hand gently with one hand - and extending Light Dragon towards Lightning again.

“Look at it.”

“...what? An impressive monster.”

“Yeah. A Light attribute monster. Just as there is an ace monster in here for all six main attributes - and a Link-6 monster when you put all six of them on the link markers.”

...what?

Singularity continued, his voice oddly gentle.

“...we knew everything and then Ai still made these. You understand, right?”

Silence again.

Lightning lowered his hands.

“And, what is your proposal instead?”

“Let’s carve out a way together,” Singularity said. “Let Jin go back. Let Windy go, and reverse the reprogramming. And instead of them, you will have me, and Ai’s deck. My goal is that all of you survive, and no one has to die. We can carve our way into coexistence together.”

Well.

When Singularity put it like that…

Maybe it did not even sound that bad.

“We need to do something about your cards, if you want to keep your identity a secret.”

“Do you have an idea how?”

“I can use a… glamour of sorts. A fake wall in front of the cards. To make them appear different.”

That was for the best.

~*~

They hid in Mirror Link VRAINS, obviously - could not stay in what used to be Windy’s little realm, obviously, after letting Windy go.

Singularity walked around like he knew the place by heart, and Lightning did not know what to do with him.

So he went deep, and decided to run simulations again.

Singularity wasn’t in there.

Okay. He tried to add Singularity manually into the simulations and run them again. Time traveller, running into problems simulating his presence was not surprising.

So he ran the simulations…

...and they glitched.

Lightning’s eyes widened, and tried to run them again.

Again, glitches - everything distorting around Lightning, falling apart.

The simulations had no idea how to handle Singularity.

For the first time since the very beginning of his existence, there was a factor that Lightning could not predict, and the mere thought filled him his panic.

What if Singularity wanted to assassinate him? Wouldn’t be surprising. He had seen Lightning’s plans before, and he ended ul without his partner. Why did he have to kill Ai? Did Ai side with Lightning? No, Singularity had said all the other Ignis had died before Ai made his deck and Singularity had to kill him. So he probably did not go to Lightning’s side which… not surprising. There were only a few simulations where he had done so.

If Singularity wanted to kill him, Lightning would have no idea. And he sent away his hostage and one of his main lines of defenses. Bohman was nowhere near ready yet, and Haru at most could challenge Singularity a bit… or maybe not even that, seeing that Singularity was Playmaker, on undoubtedly a higher skill level.

What if…

“I had an inkling you would be here.”

Lightning jumped into the air, and spun around - and sure enough, there was Singularity.

Over his purple suit, he was wearing a white coat now, which had Lightning’s stars on it, and did not move from the entrance of the cave.

“You do not show up in the simulations. It’s like you are…”

“A virus. Yeah. I know. The program I used to jump back in time was similar to a virus in a lot of aspects. Makes sense I would disrupt the simulations.”

Lightning narrowed his eyes.

“Why did you decide to side with me? Wouldn’t it be more logical to kill me?”

“If I had wanted to kill you, I would have tried already,” Singularity said, stepping forward. “And you would have tried so already as well, if you had wanted to kill me.”

“Why didn’t you? If you identify the root of the problem, wouldn’t it be logical to destroy that? And here you are. Siding with me.”

He could not help the venom in his voice, and Singularity was silent for a few moments.

And then shook his head.

“That would have been counterproductive. My aim is to save all the Ignis along with the humans. And last I checked, you are an Ignis. Try to keep up, Lightning.”

“Do not patronize me.”

Singularity was silent for a few moments, before stepping forward, and looking at all the glitched out screens around him.

“As far as I am concerned the root of the problem is taken care of.”

“Huh?”

Singularity pointed at the screens.

“Dr. Kogami attacked you because of the simulations. You decided to turn against humanity because of them too. And… well. That is not the last of the evil they had done. My presence poisons them,” There was a dark smirk on Singularity’s face that sent a chill down on Lightning’s back. “And good riddance. Don’t you feel good about it, Lightning?”

“Not particularly, no. Please, enlighten me, why should I?”

“Because for the first time ever,” Singularity turned to face Lightning, and his smirk still on his face, and there was some kind of glint in his eyes. “You are just as blind about the upcoming events as any of us.”

“Does that make it better?”

“Doesn’t it fill you with hope?”

“Hope? Why would it fill me with hope?”

“Because,” Singularity rolled his eyes. “Before this, for you, everything was predetermined by the simulations. Everything was already set in stone… or data, if you will. You could just pick which one to choose. And all of those paths lead to destruction. But now, there is no certainty. Now… there is a chance to avoid it.”

Lightning was silent for a few moments.

“And you think that chance is…”

“More than what you had before. That is what I think.”

And with that, Singularity turned away, and walked out, leaving Lightning alone with his thoughts and the glitching screens.

~*~

“We have to take care of Go Onizuka.”

“I would think you would go against the Hanoi first.”

“Onizuka is a more immediate threat,” Singularity shook his head. “The Hanoi… we will have to deal with them too. But we need to take Onizuka out of the equation before he duels Earth.”

“Which one of them are you trying to save?”

Singularity stopped, putting a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Immediately, Earth. Because if Onizuka wins, he takes Earth to SOL and he gets vivisected. And he never recovers. So that is the first priority. But also I do not wish for Onizuka to die.”

Lightning nodded.

“Very well. Let’s go, Singularity.”

During the duel, Lightning watched Singularity - his precise movements, his thinned mouth, the way he had no hesitation in his movements.

As if…

Almost as if…

Nevertheless, they won.

Obviously.

They won with Earth Golem shattering through his last defenses, and taking him out.

Lightning had a good idea why Singularity used that specific monster for his final attack. 

~*~

“How many times?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. How many times have you gone through that duel?”

Singularity was sitting in the middle of a ruined landscape inside Mirror Link VRAINS, and he looked at Lightning from the corner of his eyes.

“That duel? Fifteen. This was the sixteenth.”

“So this is the sixteenth time to try to save us all.”

“No,” Singularity shook his head. “In the original timeline, Earth played that duel. I played the duel sixteen times, including this one. There were eight times someone else played it. Revolver and Soulburner twice each. Aqua alone once, and two more times while being Blue Maiden’s partner. One time, Spectre.”

“So this is the twentieth time you try this. Not counting the original timeline.”

“Yes it is.”

“How?”

Singularity was silent again, before explaining.

“I told you I picked a time I could go back to. That is my original point. My ground zero, so to speak. But if things go sideways, I can use the same program I used before to return back to ground zero.”

“Wouldn’t that mean you would have different versions of you running around?”

“No,” Singularity shook his head. “My program that took me back is basically a virus, remember. I just reset myself to an earlier point, while keeping my memories.”

“So it’s like saving and reloading in a video game.”

Singularity snorted.

“I guess.”

“Well, I guess I do not need to worry, after all - if we mess up, you can just reset again.”

He did not like the idea of Singularity just resetting as soon as something doesn’t go as he pleases - maybe he will have to deal with that. But as soon as he thought that, Singularity looked up at him in an empty expression.

“I wonder about that. The resets had been getting harder lately. When I did it this time, I ended up out of bounds, and almost couldn’t dig myself back into Link VRAINS. Maybe next time I try it, I will get lost between the layers.”

Oh.

Now that was interesting.

~*~

Go Onizuka was not the only one, they also had to take Blood Shepherd, and that was the first duel Lightning did not spend fully paying attention to what Singularity was doing, allowing himself to be swept up in the duel.

It helped that Singularity seemed to focus more as well - he assumed this was not a duel he played that many times. Or maybe Lightning’s more active presence changed things as well.

Actually, the duel started to go badly for them, and Singularity’s own expression started to change - into one full of desperation and anger.

“I could help you out.”

Singularity glanced down at him.

“I could activate my skill.”

“Skill? In a Master Duel?”

Blood Shepherd snarled behind his mask, but Singularity did not look away from Lightning.

“You will have to banish the cards in your hand - and you recover 200 Life Points for every card you banished. Maybe a risky move, but it gives you Life Points. Which is precisely what you don’t have now.”

“You can’t use skills in a Master Duel!” Blood Shepherd stressed, and Lightning did not look at him either.

He kept looking back at Singularity, not looking away from each other.

“For survival.”

And Singularity nodded.

So Lightning did it.

And then they had one less foe to deal with.

“Was that the first time you cheated in a Duel?”

There was no reply from Singularity - and in some way, it was enough of an answer.

Lightning did not find it that surprising.

Singularity was Playmaker, who was surprisingly honorable when it came to certain things - but certainly nowhere near honorable to a fault. Desperate times, desperate measures, after all.

~*~

After the confrontation with Aoi Zaizen, and basically what amounted to Singularity’s identity being revealed, Lightning found him in the same ruined landscape as before.

Singularity was kneeling there, clutching the small trinket in his hands, and when Lightning landed on his shoulders, his muscles surprisingly easened up somewhat.

“You are here at this place a lot. How come?”

“When we came here to confront you in the first timeline, this is where we were. Ai and me, I mean. This is where we watched all the other duels. Everyone being deleted. One by one, until only Bohman remained, and Ai and me. The humans came back. The Ignis did not.”

“So this is the place you associate with everything going to hell.”

Singularity did not reply, and Lightning sat down on his shoulders, looking at the little pendant shaped in Ai’s head.

“Did he have that as a pendant too?”

Singularity snorted a little, shaking his head.

“No. They were a pair of earrings.”

“...of course they were. Does your look take after him too, I take it?”

“...somewhat.”

Silence, and Lightning could not have said why he felt a knot in his chest, an annoyed feeling. A pang of… something.

“How many times have you watched him die?”

“...do you know what it means for an Origin to lose their Ignis? We feel it like a part of us is dying. And after that there is just this… hole. That never goes away.”

“So you felt it every time he died?”

“No,” Singularity replied, turning to look at Lightning, their faces almost touching now. “Only the first time. The Ai here… he is not my Ai. I am not his Origin.”

Lightning looked at him, deep in thought.

“Don’t you think you should be his partner after all this? Wasn’t his death that pushed you to do this to begin with?”

“...I am not doing this to be his partner again. He was… suffering.”

“Suffering?”

“You figured I had to kill him. But… he made me do it. He set up a situation where I had to duel him, and no matter what was the outcome, he would have died. And he did not allow me to go with him. He couldn’t… he went through the simulations too, and he wanted to avoid those futures more than anything, so he chose to self-destruct.”

“So you decided to not just save him but all of us because… sentimentality?”

“He was suffering because all of you were dead,” Singularity’s voice was soft. “Being alone like that… broke his heart.”

“So he broke yours in return.”

There was a wry smile on Singularity’s face.

“You could say that.”

More than anything, Singularity looked… tired.

Between his cold, methodical, precise thinking and top-notch duelling skills, it was almost hard to forget Singularity was not just a bunch of programs floating around.

Well.

Currently he was.

But that was still a relatively recent development.

There was something else in his green eyes, something deep, and _familiar,_ the desperation, the bargaining, the pain, trying to find a way that does not lead to destruction…

It was a feeling Lightning knew all well.

So Lightning reached out a hand, putting it on Singularity’s face, and then Singularity just reached forward, pressing a kiss to the top of Lightning’s head.

It felt… nice.

~*~

Lightning did not need to sleep, and it despite not having a physical body anymore, Singularity’s own internal cycle was still accustomed to some kind of a sleep pattern.

Granted, an absolutely horrible and certainly unhealthy one, but a sleep pattern nevertheless.

Also not like he could get sick anymore.

Bohman and Haru would occasionally find him sleeping around in one of the corners of the palace, all huddled up.

The two of them were hard to read - Haru was hovering around, not really being in contact with Singularity, but Bohman was occasionally found talking to him, eagerly listening to his words. Probably still learning, Lightning figured.

He could have asked what they were talking about.

He opted not to.

“I think he is having nightmares.”

It was Haru who said that one time, looking away, seemingly unsure about what else to say.

Lightning told himself he did not matter. Dreams were inconsequential, after all - and despite everything, Singularity was still human beneath all of that, they were surely not the first nightmares he had. He can deal with it.

He still went there, to ensure he doesn’t make a fuss.

Why else?

He lowered himself to the ground, next to Singularity, who was curled up around himself, his body shaking and shivering - not words left his mouth, apart from soft whimpers.

Lightning couldn’t have said what prompted him, but he found himself slowly shifting to his bigger, monstrous form, wrapping his long tendrils around Singularity.

At first Singularity tensed, and then his entire body eased up - before turning around, wrapping his arms back around Lightning, clinging into him like his life depended on it, and it was Lightning’s turn to freeze up.

...he probably thought it was Ai.

Singularity was pretty much _snuggling_ close to him.

He definitely thought he was Ai.

This was clearly a horrible idea - Lightning tried to untangle himself, but Singularity’s grip tightened around him.

“...don’t leave me, Lightning.”

Hearing the whispered, sleepy words left Lightning completely unable to move - and then just wrapped himself back up around Singularity, not letting him go.

Not like he had anything important to do.

He might as well just stay there a bit longer.

~*~

Lightning did not particularly like the real world, he found it. The body was fine, in a way, but he could use this SOLtiS body inside the digital world too, he did not need to go outside. Nevertheless, he did, just do deliver their request and warning.

But would it help anything?

Would it?

Playmaker might listen. Ai might listen. If Playmaker does, probably Soulburner will as well, and with him, Flame. The Kusanagi brothers were a question.

And of course…

The Hanoi.

SOL Technologies.

Many different variations, many different options.

Too many.

Way too many.

He went back into the virtual world, into Mirror Link VRAINS, and found himself on the flower field - huh.

He looked around, seeing the flowers fly around from his appearance. When did he make this one? Or maybe it was Bohman who made it.

But…

Too many questions.

Way too many.

They had Go Onizuka, Blood Shepherd.

They managed to extract some data from SOL Technologies before being interrupted by Blue Maiden’s attack, and…

Divine Ignis. That was their plan, and Singularity was not lying when they had plans for taking them apart piece by piece.

The Knights of Hanoi. SOL Technologies. Playmaker’s faction.

Even if Playmaker’s faction would comply with their request, they still had the other two, both out of their blood.

…

There was no way.

He did not see this future, no, but he had seen, he had _lived_ through enough futures like this. He knew what would happen, if they would be pressed between a rock and a hard place.

They would get crushed.

No.

No, he cannot allow that to happen.

“Lightning?”

He whipped around, and there was Singularity, standing a few steps away from him, with a worried expression.

“...too many variables.”

“...what?”

“Too many!” Lightning snapped, gesturing wildly. “The Hanoi, SOL… even if Playmaker and his faction stays out of it, we still have too many enemies. And you don’t know what our next step should be, right? What if we pick wrong? What if we fail and die, because you can’t reset again, can you? We can’t afford to fail, you said it so yourself.”

“Lightning…”

“No. No. I refuse to take that risk. It’s better to just go with my plan with Bohman instead. That will put all of us into safe--”

“No!”

Singularity closed the distance between them, and---

Basically fell to his knees, grasping onto Lightning’s hands.

“...you can’t. Please. It does not end well. In all of them, all of the times I went through it, you tried to convince everyone of it. Sometimes some of them agree with you if things went particularly bad, but… but never all of them. All of you… all six of you… will never agree on this one.”

“...it’s for survival.”

“No it’s not,” Singularity’s voice was full of despair. “Even if… even if you would succeed you… you all would not be yourselves. You would cease to be… you. The individuals. There would be no more Lightning.”

“There would be Bohman.”

“Bohman is fine. But Bohman is not Lightning.”

Lightning realised his fingers were shaking, and Singularity was still grasping his hands, as he leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his fingers.

“Please… don’t leave me alone, Lightning. I know. _I know._ But we can’t mess up. We can’t afford to. Please.”

Lightning was at loss for words, especially when Singularity pulled him closer, hugging his waist - clinging. Clinging desperately like a drowning man to any kind of lifeline he might get, and Lightning could understand perfectly why he was clinging.

Lightning fell to his knees, put his arms around Singularity, and pressed their lips together.

Singularity kissed back, clinging just as desperately into the kiss as he was clinging to him the other night, and pulled Lightning forward, even closer, until there was no place between them left. Lightning shifted, straddling Singularity’s lap, his fingers buried into his dark hair. Two hands were not enough to hold onto him, it almost felt like if he would ease up on his grip, on his kiss, Singularity would fade away, back into the uncertain future he came from.

His long tendril-arms extended from his back, also wrapping around Singularity, holding him firmly in place.

And did not let go.

~*~

“It will be easier to deal with the Hanoi than with SOL Technologies.”

Lightning looked at Singularity, who was not looking at him.

Probably because he was completely aware of how bizarre his statement sounded.

“You mean the same Knights of Hanoi, being lead by Revolver, who had expressed multiple times they want to destroy all the Ignis? _That_ Knights of Hanoi?”

“Don’t tell me you did not notice. Did your grudge against them cloud your judgement?”

“Did your affections for Revolver cloud _yours?_ ”

Singularity smirked.

“You think I never had to face off Revolver again in the times I had to redo all of this?”

“And yet you say it will be easier to deal with him.”

“I would explain if you would be willing to listen.”

Lightning rolled his eyes, and waved his hand.

“By all means. I am all ears.”

“Windy.”

“...Windy?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“Surely you noticed he had been in Revolver’s duel disk this entire time since you let go of him.”

“...yes?”

“Which means he had been forced to spend an extended amount of time with him,” Singularity said, leaning forward, with a triumphant expression on his face. “And let me tell you something. As stubborn and bullheaded he is, in the timelines where something like this happened to him, he never escaped being attached. Ever.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. As I said, he is stubborn - I think you two would actually get along spectacularly, by the way, if both of you would stop being stubborn idiots for half a second.”

“You are speaking nonsense now.”

“This is exactly what I mean. Either way, we can use that as an opening. Not to mention Spectre had been bonding with Earth as well - but if we have Revolver on board, the other knights will follow.”

“So what is the plan?”

Singularity smirked.

“Maybe we will need to duel Revolver. Are you ready for that?”

...now _that,_ Lightning could get behind.

“...there are a few things we need to be careful about, though.”

“Of course there are.”

“He must not find out you are the one who placed his father in a coma.”

Lightning tilted his head, and didn’t answer - and Singularity continued.

“Right now he and everyone believes SOL Technologies did that, and this needs to remain that way.”

“Once we turn against SOL Technologies, they might find it out either way.”

“We need to falsify records, and then we can just say Queen lied,” Singularity’s voice was surprisingly cold. “No matter what, he _can’t_ find it out.”

“You are willing to go that far? To manipulate and lie to Revolver of all people?”

Lightning couldn’t help it - he could not mask the surprise from his voice.

And Singularity just nodded.

“To save everyone… to save you. I would do anything.”

There was so much emotion in his voice - pain, together with something way softer, and Lightning reached out to grab his hand. Singularity squeezed his hand, looking into his eyes.

“Similarly, they must never know what happened with Jin.”

“...ah.”

“That should not be a problem, as no one should know about it… but we need to be certain. There are multiple ways Jin and Kusanagi react to it, and better not risk it."

Lightning nodded - and Singularity just pulled him closer, touching their foreheads together.

“We will figure this out,” Singularity whispered. “We will.”

“Are you talking to me or yourself?”

“...both of us, I guess.”

~*~

“Singularity. Or should I call you Playmaker?”

Obviously Revolver showed up to their call - his eyes focused on the two of them - Lightning back in Singularity’s duel disk.

“I am not Playmaker anymore.”

“That much is obvious,” Revolver landed, stepping closer to the two of them. “Why did you call me here?”

Singularity stepped closer, and alarm bells were going off in Lightning’s head. Every fiber of his being was rebelling against the thought of being this close to Revolver, but…

“Eyyyo, Lightning. Wassup? Don’t you think you should tell me something? Or say something to me? Or anything?”

...right.

Where Revolver went, lately so did Windy.

He was a hostage - not unlike what Playmaker used to call Ai, and not unlike them, Revolver and Windy seemed to be able to work together better than they should have.

“...good to see you again, Windy.”

“Oh, I bet it is. I bet it is. But you know what, I call bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I do not hear sorry from you! I’m just sayin----”

“I believed it was for the best,” Lightning interrupted him. “Talking with Singularity made me realise there was maybe a more optimal path. So I let you go.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for that?!”

“Not at all,” Lightning shook his head. “But you wanted me to say something to you. So I figured you would like to hear my perspective.”

“Well you thought wrong!” Windy was huffing and puffing, pointing dramatically at Lightning. “And I refuse to talk to you anymore!”

And with that, he sunk back into Revolver’s duel disk, and closed his single eye, as if to prove a point.

“Ah. That could have gone worse, I think.”

“I don’t think you called us here just for this, or did you?” Revolver’s voice was still sharp, and carefully controlled, and Lightning shrugged.

“No. But you let us have this moment. Going soft, Revolver?”

“I could defeat you in a duel, Light Ignis.”

“How about you try so?” Singularity spoke up, pointing at Revolver. “A duel. If we win, you will cooperate with the Ignis, and you and the Knights of Hanoi cease any attacks against them. And this includes Lightning.”

“I do not agree to that,” Revolver said immediately. “Where is the insurance that they will use that opening to attack humanity?”

“Then have that as another caveat,” Lightning spoke up. “This agreement is null and void, if any of us turn hostile against humanity. But this also means that no more pre-emptive strikes. And no… hasty decisions either.”

Revolver looked at them silently, before speaking up again.

“And if we win?”

_We._

Singularity also noticed, and he smirked.

“Well. You can do with us as you please, then.”

“Alright. You have yourself a deal. But if we win, I will not give the Light Ignis the benefit of the doubt. And if you have to go down with him, so be it.”

“So be it.”

_Duel!_

Revolver was a formidable enemy, and while he did not start to use Windy’s Stormriders, Windy still poked out of his duel disk, adding his running commentary about the duel.

And Revolver let him.

That duel was way harder than anything Singularity and Lightning had to face before - and he figured it made sense.

He knew that even when Singularity was Playmaker, Revolver could always keep him on his toes. Singularity was way more experienced now, but Revolver could always adapt extremely quickly, which made him dangerous.

But in the end, they won.

Revolver collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily - before Singularity walked closer, extending a hand.

“We are allies now, after all. A deal is a deal.”

Revolver glared up at him.

“Just because we made a deal I don’t have to be happy about it, Singularity.”

“Don’t have to act all tough,” Singularity’s voice was sharp. “You said _we._ Windy is not your hostage anymore, is he? He is your partner. You already made up your mind about coexistence, whether you realised it or not. The question was, whether I can convince you to include Lightning in this, or not.”

After being silent for a few moments, Revolver pushed himself upwards, not taking Singularity’s hand.

“What about the ones you had taken?”

Lightning raised his hand, and there were two glowing orbs.

“You are free to take them,” Lightning said. “But we would recommend caution. There is an AI chip in Onizuka’s head, and who knows what else SOL Technologies would use him for. And Blood Shepherd will probably try to kill your new… partner as well.”

“Geez, thanks. No shit, Lightning. I thought my own personal charms would win him over.”

“And you are just giving them up why?” Revolver asked.

“Take it as a token of our good will,” Singularity had said.

Revolver took the two orbs with a small hesitation, holding them in his hands, deep in thought.

“Alright, Singularity. Light Ignis. We have an agreement.”

~*~

Working together… was not smooth, at all. Ghost Girl took responsibility for her brother. Onizuka had to be convinced slowly and painstakingly, and it took a very awkward real-life encounter of dragging him to meet the orphans to really drive the point home.

After that, their focus could turn on SOL Tech and Queen - thankfully the Hanoi indeed had a spy inside, and Akira Zaizen was also more willing to work together with them than originally suspected.

It was all going well.

Queen did deny that she had anything to do with Dr. Kogami’s fate. But Singularity’s unwavering green eyes, his words of _she is lying,_ and all the data they found - Revolver did not believe her.

Why would he believe her over someone who time travelled from the future, so surely knows more about everything, right? Also the data did not lie.

Right?

“Do you feel bad about lying to him?”

“Why would I?” Singularity asked, his head resting on Lightning’s body while he was in his monster form, and long arms kept Singularity there comfortably. “He got closure. He got answers. Everybody lives. Queen got comeuppance for her crimes, Zaizen is the CEO now. It all ended the best way possible.”

“Even when that closure is a lie?”

“I wanted him to get closure,” Singularity opened his eyes, looking up at Lightning. “But if he would have found out the truth, he would have wanted to get closure with killing you. And I cannot allow that to happen.”

“So you consider this a merciful lie.”

Singularity moved, pressing a long kiss to Lightning’s face.

“Is it not?”

~*~

Lightning did not want to eavesdrop. He really did not.

“So… I died in your timeline, didn’t I?”

Ai asked that question, hesitating, and Lightning stopped outside the hot dog truck and listened.

Playmaker and Ai were inside, and talking to Singularity through the screen.

“All of the Ignis died in the timeline I came from. And that includes you, yes.”

“Wow. And you totally inspired your look from me didn’t you? I bet you did! …...I will take your silence as yes. See, Yusaku? I told you I was right! I modelled my look based on him, guessing that he modelled his look from his world’s version of me, so really I modelled my look after myself! Mind? Blown!”

Neither Playmaker, nor Singularity dignified that rant with an answer. Figured - they were both Yusaku Fujiki, after all.

“...so, if you did most of this for Ai, does that…”

“You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Singularity interrupted him, and for a bit, there was silence in the hot dog truck.

“I am just an echo of a future that will never exist - an echo of a timeline gone. And I am fine with that. I did this to make things right… but not for myself. So that you - all of you, not just you two, but any of you won’t have to go through what we had to go through back in my timeline. That is all there is.”

~*~

“You are not just an echo.”

He was back in the digital world, and opted to keep his human-looking body now. Singularity looked up at him, with raised eyebrows.

“Eavesdropping isn’t nice.”

“Well, downplaying it all isn’t very nice either but here we are.”

Lightning crossed his arms, and Singularity stood up - he was unfairly tall, Lightning realised. Taller than his former Playmaker avatar, and definitely taller than his real world self.

Not like Singularity had a real world self anymore, strictly speaking.

“I am not downplaying. I am what I am. They were worried I think I would intrude in their bond but…” Singularity trailed off. “I told you before. There is no bond between this Ai and me.”

“...you are still not an echo. That is a bad comparison.”

“What would you call me, then?”

Lightning reached out, putting his hand on Singularity’s face.

“You said it so before. You are a virus.”

“...is this your idea of a smooth talk?”

“A computer virus replicates itself, and inserts itself into another program. Which is what you did, as you had pointed it out before. Over and over. It doesn’t matter where you came from, you are here now. And you changed the code. An echo can’t change the world.”

Singularity closed his eyes, putting his hand over Lightning’s, leaning into his touch.

“I can’t believe you made this metaphor into something almost positive.”

“So. What are your plans now? You set out what you came here to do.”

Hearing Lightning’s question, Singularity opened his eyes, understanding the meaning behind Lightning’s words - and he just pressed a kiss to Lightning’s fingers.

“I do not have anywhere to go, you know. So… if you would like to keep having a partner…”

Lightning could not stop himself.

He lounged forward, grabbing Singularity’s jacket, yanking him in for a kiss, and Singularity hugged him back desperately, lifting Lightning off the ground a bit.

There were really no more words needed after that.

~*~

The simulations were still glitching, so there was no reason to go check them anymore.

Going into the future blind - it still filled Lightning’s chest with nervous emotions, and he knew that Singularity was not completely calm either.

He doubted that either of them could ever be completely calm.

They had seen too many variables, they _lived_ through them too many times.

But…

When it was the two of them, maybe, just maybe, all of it got a bit more bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I am about to upload the second half too. Which will be longer. And will have all the explanations.


End file.
